Solitary Among The Stars
by Carolyn Carey
Summary: Janeway and her crew are captured by the Kalanar Imperium, a society which exploits alien races through slavery & forced labor. When Kathryn is separated from her crew, a long struggle to get them and Voyager back begins.
1. Solitary Among The Stars Chapter 1

Solitary Among The Stars 

_By Carolyn Carey_

**Disclaimer:******

Voyager and her crew are under control of the Paramount Imperium.

I own the Neddiin, the Kalanar Imperium, including all its manifestations, and this story and I'm not making any profit with this.

**Summary:**

After a nasty confrontation with the Neddiin, Voyager is in dire need of repair and hiding within a nebula. Unknown to Janeway and her crew, they have entered Kalanar space.

When a representative of the Kalanar Imperium is haling them, will they encounter friend or foe?

This is a 'Janeway story'; so excuse the lack of concentration on the rest of the crew.

Hey, TPTB get away with ignoring main characters for entire episodes, so why not I? ;o)

Inspired by Verdi's "Messa Da Requiem". I suggest you don't listen to it as much as I did, or you will come up with such warped ideas as these...

**Rating:** PG-13

Chapter 1 "Dies Irae" 

Mentally and physically pushed to her limits she sat among the ashes and debris in the dim ruins of her ready room, her gaze fixed on the natural phenomenon right in front of her in the vacuum of space.

She had been sitting at her desk for hours, ever since the last crew meeting in the conference room. The reason for her withdrawal into her holy sanctum had been to collect her thoughts in order to come up with a solution to Voyager's current predicament, but whichever way she twisted and turned their situation, it remained hopeless. Eventually she had given up, and instead lost herself in the magnificent radiance of the colorful spirals on the other side of the viewport. It was almost as if the fluorescent twists and twirls were beckoning her to join them in their hypnotic dance. With a silent sigh she reluctantly drew her eyes away from the bewitching beauty before her.

It was time to face the facts. Nothing was gained by letting her mind drift in such a careless manner. Grimly she activated her desktop console.

_Captain's Log, Stardate 64783.1_

_Having sustained heavy damage in our recent confrontation with the Neddiin, Voyager is hiding within a class 3 nebula. The high gamma radiation is amply hiding us from enemy sensors; however, we will not be able to stay here for long, since hazardous amounts of radiation are leaking through the hull. Shields are down. Hull breaches have been located on decks five, six, eight, nine, ten, thirteen and fifteen. In order to conserve power I ordered decks four through fifteen have been evacuated. Power and food reserves have been significantly depleted. We are operating entirely on auxiliary power. The replicators are down and our food reserves in cargo bays one and two, as well as airponics have been destroyed. We are currently relying on what little food stock Neelix had stored in the mess hall and emergency rations. Even if I limit the rations to one per person per day, reserves will only last for 11 days. _

_All recreational activities have been suspended until further notice in order to preserve energy. Energy reserves are down to a minimum, life support is at 40 per cent and falling. Voyager is in dire need of repair, but we lack the necessary materials to undertake them._

_Sickbay is run over with casualties. We've had two fatalities today, Ensign Kazarin and crewman Rendall. Crew numbers are now down to 97, which is barely enough to run this ship, not to mention carry out vital repairs._

_Exploring unchartered space has been a dream of mine since I was a child, but I never thought I'd find myself this far from the Federation. There is no convenient space dock within our reach, no smiling faces that would welcome us with open arms. We are surrounded by enemies, enemies we hardly know. Enemies who refuse to talk to us, who attack us without provocation, and whose aim it is to destroy us, for what reason we do not know. In all those years we've been stranded in the Delta Quadrant, I do not believe we have ever been in quite as desperate a situation as the present. It's been six years now, and although we have made some friends, we have run into more enemies by far. It's been a six-year battle and I am tired, so tired..._

_The only thing that could possibly help us now is a miracle..._

The chirp of her combadge interrupted the doom and gloom of her log entry.

"Chakotay to Janeway."

"Janeway here!"

"Captain, we are being hailed by an unknown vessel!"

Whatever next? Would it be friend or foe? Right now they could use a friend. Well, there was only one way to find out...

"I'll be right there, Commander!"

Seconds later she entered the bridge, a little bounce of hope in her step, only to witness the incoming hail, albeit on audio only. Visual communications, like just about everything else on Voyager, were still off-line.

The imposing voice of an unknown alien engulfed the bridge, or rather the ruins that were left of it.

"Intruder vessel, this is Commissioner Talshek of the Kalanar Imperium. You have illegally entered our space. Your vessel will be boarded and confiscated. Resistance will not be tolerated. Your crew will be relocated and adjust to serve the Kalanar Imperium."

Kathryn Janeway rolled her eyes in a gesture of annoyance. Just when she had thought that things could not possibly get any worse...

What was it with the species in the Delta Quadrant? Why did they always have to be so goddamn aggressive...? The voice of the current aggressor, however, sounded surprisingly human, although his attitude was decidedly reminiscent of the Borg. If only she had visual... she always found it helpful to have a picture of her adversaries, to seize them up, to be able to talk with her eyes as well as with words. Oh well, no point crying over spilled milk. She would have to make do without an image.

The captain steeled herself and took a deep breath.

"Commissioner Talshek, this is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. I apologize for our intrusion.  It was not intentional. We are explorers from a world far, far away, on the other side of the galaxy, and were not aware of your borders. Our vessel is in dire need of repair, so we cannot leave your space at this moment in time, but if you'd just..."

"SILENCE!" the voice of the man she could not see boomed.

Despite the fact that visual communications were still down, the captain's eyes flew to the viewscreen, force of habit perhaps.

"How dare you interrupt a representative of the Kalanar Imperium? Be quiet and comply with our orders!"

Janeway swallowed hard, a strong feeling of foreboding creeping threw her bones. The eyes of the bridge crew were fixed on her, the tension of the bridge palpable.

"Commissioner, surely this must be a misunderstanding. We are just trying to get home. We were not aware of violating your borders. Surely there have to be exceptions... I'm sure if we talked about this..."

"One more word and I will order my tactical officer to fire on you. According to our sensors, your shields are non-functional, so I would comply if I were you. Prepare to be boarded!"

She would rather destroy Voyager than surrender her to these ignorant brutes, but unfortunately the self-destruct command was yet another function that was off-line, due to extensive damage to Voyager's secondary command processors. Sending Voyager on a collision course with the Kalanar vessel was not an option either, since neither warp, nor impulse drive were operational. They were sitting ducks...

She motioned Harry Kim to silence communications. Then she tapped her combadge.

"Janeway to Torres. How long until we have the warp engines back online?"

"Torres here, Captain... I would say about three days, minimum. The plasma coils and circuits need replacing, and the magnetic constrictors are undergoing realignment."

"What about weapons and shields?"

"We have three torpedoes left, but the launchers are fried. We can't even launch manually. Phaser banks are still frozen, and the shields are still down, although I should have them back online in about three hours."

Voyager's commanding officer frowned.

"We don't have that much time, B'Elanna. I need shields now!"

"I'm sorry, Captain. It's impossible..."

"Alright B'Elanna. Work as fast as you can. Janeway out."

Kathryn Janeway gulped. Her stomach was tightening itself into an array of knots. Was this how it was going to end? She and her crew imprisoned -- or worse -- on an alien world, tens of thousands of light-years away from home? Was this what she had been fighting for all those years? It could not be. She simply would not allow it. She would defend her crew and vessel with her last breath, if necessary.

Tuvok's voice broke the silence on the bridge.

"Intruder alert on decks four, three, two..."

He did not have to finish the sentence, for they were being held at gun point by a dozen aliens in black uniforms, reminiscent of Cardassian military gear, yet the aliens looked human, apart from the pronounced cartilaginous bone structure starting at the bridge of the nose and swooping over each eye in place of the human eyebrow.

Thus the bridge crew found themselves outnumbered and outgunned, and the captain was too wise to resist capture. However, she had no intention to relinquish her vessel to these aliens.

"I want to speak to Commissioner Talshek!"

Kathryn Janeway locked eyes with the guard behind her as she spoke those words in a voice that clearly stated that she was not going to take 'no' for an answer.

They had been forced to kneel on the floor in the center of the bridge, vicious looking disruptor rifles pointed at their heads. Luckily none of the Voyager crew had been crazy enough to put up a fight, so there had been no casualties, at least not yet.

The guard's face remained a mask of stone.

"I said, I want to speak to your commanding officer!" she repeated, this time rising to her feet. There was no warning. The Kalanar barely moved a muscle as he swung the butt of his rifle at her. It made violent impact with the base of her neck, and she fell forward, unconscious.

The name of the planet was Laxys III, the third planet in orbit of a red giant. At daytime it was living hell. Temperatures rose so high, that no vegetation existed. At night, however, the planet grew cold. The contrast between night and day temperatures was so extreme, that the planet was uninhabited, except for the prisoners who worked in the labor camps, and they usually did not last long.

Laxys III would have been a place of no interest to the Kalanar Imperium, had it not been for the trilithium hidden under the planet's barren surface. Its applications were many. The Kalanar had built their entire Imperium on the chemical compound. Refined into dilithium, they used it as an energy resource for their cities and as a warp/propulsion crystal for their starships. Last but not least, unrefined trilithium was used as a powerful weapon that could be used to destroy a starship, or even an entire planetary system. When delivered into the heart of a star, the chemical caused a quantum implosion of sufficient force to halt all fusion reactions in the star, resulting in an energy release that destroyed all planets in the star's system. The Kalanar had used it against their enemies, whose names and worlds only lived on in history books.

All this had been proudly recited by the labor camp overseer, Tanar Lyok, a proud Kalanar, middle-aged, tall as was the norm for Kalanar males and slightly overweight. It was his 'new arrivals speech.' Whenever a new convoy of prisoners arrived, and it was often, he told them of the hardships of life on the planet, and gloated of the grandeur of the Kalanar Imperium. He never grew tired of it.

The reaction of the prisoners was what kept him going in this hellhole. The fear and desperation in their eyes, their marveling at the magnificence of the Imperium... But this crowd in front of him was no fun. They just stood there, apparently indifferent to their fate.

Kathryn Janeway was suffering from a terrible headache, which started at the base of the skull, where the butt of the weapon had hit her hard. She felt dizzy and nausea was threatening to overpower her at any moment. Lyok's words were spinning in her head, repeating themselves all over again, and in no particular order. She had regained consciousness just in time to witness Voyager's landing on the planet. She had never managed to get to speak to Commissioner Talshek. The man seemed to be unreachable. She gathered that he must be a very high-ranking officer of the Kalanar Imperium, because after the initial hail he had not been involved any further in the takeover of Voyager and the relocation of her crew. Getting his hands dirty was obviously beneath him. He had his hangmen to do it for him.

The crew was split up into two groups, male and female, and lead to the chemical shower rooms. Much like a sonic shower this did not involve water, but merely chemical gases that exterminated harmful bacteria and other infectious agents. The chemicals burned in their lungs, throats and eyes and made them all cough uncontrollably. Their uniforms were burned and they were given beige tunics and trousers made from a cotton-like fabric, no doubt well suited to the hot environment.

When they were finally hoarded out of the main building and into the open air, the red giant was already sinking below the horizon. In the distance, huge rock columns that looked a little like giant toadstools rose toward the twilit red sky. The ground was rocky, dry and laced with cracks, the wasteland was a conundrum of deep rocky canyons and rock formations. Somewhere in the distance the human eye could barely make out a seemingly endless sea of dunes.

The air was hot and thin, and the captain and her crew struggled to catch their breath. Only Tuvok, Vorik and B'Elanna seemed to be immune to the climate, which was not surprising considering that the climates of their respective homeplanets were equally hot. As a matter of fact Laxys III evoked distant memories of Vulcan. Hundreds of prisoners sat on the barren ground. The labor camp was a melting pot of countless alien species, who seemed to have nothing in common but sorrow and misery. They all looked exhausted, sick and emaciated, and they were all wearing the same beige uniform, which in most cases hung off their various colored bodies in shreds and rags. Apparently there was no such thing as a second set of clothes in this place. You just wore the same old rags, until they literally fell off you, by which time the prisoner would most likely be dead anyway, so why waste new clothes on him or her? Kalanar economy... Kathryn secretly wondered what the average life span of a prisoner on Laxys III was... The camp was quiet, too quiet for such a large amount of people. No one gave them as much as a straying glance as the crew of the Federation starship Voyager walked through the flock of prisoners in search of a spot of their own.

The acrid smell of urine, feces, vomit and decay clung to the thin air, and Kathryn had to fight the urge to retch. _My kingdom for a breath of fresh air_, she thought. She could not let her crew see her weakness. She had to keep up an element of hope that they were going to get out of this hell. She had given them her word that she would get them home, and she intended to keep it. She would have to come up with an escape plan, soon, before she or any of her crew got sick. But first things first. They had to find a spot of their own, had to create a base camp, a spot from which they could explore their new surroundings and then rendezvous at.

"Captain!"

Kathryn spun around to face Chakotay, who was standing right behind her.

"There is a small rock formation over there that should offer ample shelter from the elements. It's also a little apart from the crowd. I think it would make a good base camp."

She squinted and gazed into the direction he was pointing at. It did indeed look like a good spot for a camp. It was isolated, but not too far from the base camp. A rock formation formed almost a half circle. Ample shelter indeed.

"Alright!"

Kathryn raised her voice to attract the attention of her crew.

"We are going to make our base camp over there by that rock formation. If there's any daylight left, we will then separate to explore the neighborhood, and then rendezvous at the camp. Tomorrow we are going to start working on a way to get out of here. I don't intend to spend the rest of my life in this hellhole. But one step at the time. Lets get going."

They all started to move in the direction of the rock formation. Neelix walked up to the captain.

"Captain, I know you're probably busy right now, but I thought you should know that two of our people are missing. Sam and Naomi Wildman haven't been seen since we all got separated prior to the showers."

Kathryn stopped dead. Startled, Chakotay, who had been walking right behind her, almost bumped into her.

"Commander, you go ahead with the rest of the crew. I 'm going to have a word with the overseer."

"Captain...?"

But before he had the time to protest she was already gone.

"Okay, you heard the captain. Lets go!"

Kathryn faced the guard at the entrance to the main building.

"I need to speak to the overseer!"

The guard merely sneered at her.

"Go away!"

"Two members of my crew are missing, and I don't intend to leave here until I have them back. Is that clear?"

"I said go away! If you cherish your life, you'll do as I say!"

He was about to point his disruptor rifle at her when suddenly the tinted glass door behind him slid open, to reveal non other than Tanar Lyok, who immediately addressed the guard.

"What the hell is going on out here? What's the meaning of this commotion? Do you think the Commissioner is going to be impressed with the lack of discipline in this place?"

"It's one of the new prisoners, Sir. She won't go away.", the guard defended himself, staring at Kathryn.

"Sir, I need to talk to you. Two of my people have gone missing."

Lyok shot the female prisoner before him a contemptuous look. She had quite a nerve, interrupting his meeting with the Commissioner for something this trivial. However, he could not help but be a little curious about her. There was something commanding about the way she presented herself, something that demanded respect despite the fact that she was a small female prisoner who had by all means been defeated and subdued.

Seeing that she had his attention she appealed further,

"Please, I just need to now that they are safe. It's a mother and her child."

Curious, the concern that she had for the members of her crew. Usually the prisoners in the camp cared only about their next food ration. He could not help but be a little intrigued by her.

"All mothers and their children are housed in the maternity unit. They will join the camp when the child is deemed old enough to work in the mines. Now go away." he snapped.

Before she could say another word the door slid open once again, and out stepped someone she was already acquainted with.

"Ah, Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. I hope your new home meets with your approval, Ma'am.", Commissioner Talshek smirked.

"Is this prisoner causing you trouble, Lyok?"

"Nothing we can't handle, Commissioner, I assure you."

Kathryn stared at the man in front of her, the almighty Talshek. Lyok seemed almost scared of him. Curious...

"So, what's all this pandemonium about then?", Talshek enquired further. Kathryn Janeway took the cue.

"I merely wanted to know what happened to two of my people who appear to have gone missing. Lyok tells me they've been taken to a maternity unit."

The corners of his mouth drew up into an evil smile.

"Ah, touching, very touching, Captain. But don't worry, soon you won't concern yourself with anything but a good night's sleep and your daily ration."

Kathryn glared the tall and dark impersonation of evil in front of her. Her voice turned as cold as ice.

"Why are you doing this to us?"

"Because I can, Captain." he chuckled.

Kathryn spun around, appalled at the nonchalant words that had been thrown at her and started towards the new base camp. Then, abruptly, she stopped and turned to face Talshek once more.

"Go to hell, Commissioner!" she spat.

Talshek only chuckled,

"You first... _'Kathryn'_, isn't it? And please, call me _'Talshek'_, my dear."

"Shall I have her disciplined, Commissioner?" Lyok intervened.

Talshek stared after her as she disappeared into the distance.

"No, I'll take care of that myself. Breaking her spirit will be a pleasure. I shall take her into my service. You will be amply compensated for the loss of her labor."

"Shall we hold market here tomorrow? I know plenty of people on Kalanar Prime who are looking for fresh slaves..."

"Yes, what an inspired idea, Lyok! I'm impressed! We shall hold market at dawn!"

"As you wish, Commissioner."

Kathryn was fuming. She could not believe that her crew's fate had been decided for no better reason than because Talshek felt like flexing his tyrannical muscles. This was not why she had made so many sacrifices during the last few years. It was certainly not how this was going to end. She would not stand for it. Come what may, they were going to make it back to Voyager, and yes, they were going to make it back home. She had defeated the Borg. She was not about to be stopped by the self-indulgent whims of a megalomaniac tyrant. And the Kalanar Imperium would not be the first to be defeated by her and her crew, though she hoped to god that it would be the last.

When she reached the camp Chakotay and the crew had already started several campfires. They sat huddled together to keep warm. In her fury she had neither noticed the change in temperature, nor the fact that it had gone almost completely dark. If it had not been for the scattered light of the moon in the distance she would not have been able to see a thing.

A myriad of clouds cast their eerie shadows over the night sky, obscuring most stars from view, except for the diffused light of the large moon and the occasional glimpse of the other two planets in the system. Laxys Prime and Laxys II were now in clear view of the planet. It was strange to see two more planets so close to the surface of the one she was standing on. Like Laxys III they were desert planets. The red giant had seen to that. She wondered if those two worlds also homed prisoners forced to work in labor camps...

Folding her legs under herself, Kathryn sat down on the ground next to Chakotay and warmed her hands on a campfire. For a moment they just sat in companionable silence. Then she spoke.

"They are keeping them in a maternity unit until they deem Naomi old enough to work in the mines."

"I see. They are not completely barbaric then." Chakotay commented wryly.

He knew how much this situation was tearing at her. She had lost control, had lost her ship, and now her crew were being forced to work and live in conditions that were, by all intents and purposes, appalling. There was no doubt in his mind that she was blaming herself for all of it, and it made him furious. They were a team, so why could they not share the bad times as well as the good ones? He took a brief side-glance at her. She looked totally worn out. Dark shadows were cast under her eyes, and her cheekbones were standing out more prominently than usual. He sighed.

"Kathryn, it's dark and there's really nothing we can do right now until daybreak. Why don't you get some sleep?"

She shook her head determinedly.

"Maybe later. I need to think about this a little longer, Chakotay. You go and get some sleep. I'll stay up awhile longer."

With another sigh he hesitantly got up and found himself a place to sleep. But sleep would not come easily tonight, not for any members of the Voyager crew...

Kathryn sat on the ground, staring into the flames of the small campfire, but not really seeing them. Her mind's eye conjured up a variety of images. This morning she had thought they were beyond hope, but now the situation had turned a hundred times worse. She could not even begin to come up with a possible plan of escape. Only to herself she would admit this, but she could not see a way out.

In command training she had learned that a captain had to keep up the facade of hope at all costs. Keeping an element of hope alive among the crew was of paramount importance. It was their only chance of survival, if there was such a thing in this case.

Admittedly this was not the first time that she thought their situation hopeless. At the beginning of their adventure in the Delta Quadrant things had not looked so rosy either. First of all they had been stranded seventy thousand light-years from home, which would make their ETA at Earth approximately seventy years at maximum warp. Then there had been the Kazon. She could not help comparing their current situation with the incident at Hanon IV, when the Kazon had taken over her ship, and dumped her crew on a barren planet. She had had no hope for them then, and it had turned out all right in the end.

The Vidiians had threatened her crew several times, even causing her counterpart in a parallel universe to destroy her vessel. Naomi Wildman and Ensign Kim had come from that universe.

Once, she herself and Chakotay had been stranded on a planet after contracting a virus that seemingly had no cure. Had she not lost all hope of finding an antidote when a plasma storm had rendered all her scientific equipment useless? She had even gotten used to the idea of living the rest of her live on a planet in the Delta Quadrant, far away from her family and loved ones, and far away from Voyager and her crew, safe her first officer. Chakotay, who had pledged his loyalty and friendship to her on the planet they had named 'New Earth'. She had even begun to cherish their new life on that planet... and then Voyager had come back for them, with the cure.

Countless times in the past few years her vessel had been attacked by hostile aliens, and both, vessel and crew, had taken quite a beating. But they had always pulled through in the end, even if sometimes she had lost a member of the crew. No, Voyager's crew was more than a bunch of people who worked together. They were a family, and each time she lost a member of this family, she felt like she was being torn to shreds. But each time most of them survived, and Voyager would lay in a course for home...

Maybe a situation was never quite hopeless, until you gave up hope...

Kathryn was jolted out of her trance by the ruby glow of the rising red giant. Dawn had come. Only now she realized that she was shivering from the cold. The fire had died a long time ago. She had not even noticed, so immersed had she been in her sinister thoughts.

All night she had contemplated their fate, compared it to incidents in the past, but she had yet to come up with some sort of a plan for the day ahead. It was important to give the crew a sense of hope, so she would have to tell them something when they woke up.

Kathryn's gaze went towards the horizon. Slowly the large disc of everlasting flames rose in the sky, tinting everything on planet crimson. It was an awe-inspiring sight, but she was well aware that its beauty was deceptive, even dangerous. The pregnant sun was a symbol of destruction. She could only guess at the former lushness of this desert planet, its vegetation, which had shriveled and died, its rivers and oceans, which had evaporated in the heat. This star represented only death and decay. It stood as a symbol for the end of hope, no matter how comforting its heat appeared to her after the long cold night.

She stretched her stiff muscles, and wished for a cup of coffee...

"I guess you didn't get any sleep all night, did you?"

Startled she looked at the man who had sat down next to her. She had been too immersed in her own thoughts to notice his presence.

"No, I needed time to think." she replied tiredly.

"And, do you have a plan?"

"Not yet. What about you, Chakotay, any insights?"

"Apart from getting to know our surroundings, no. I think we should split up into four groups today and explore the different parts of this camp, try to find weaknesses in the barriers. That is, if they let us explore. We may be stuck in the mines all day...And then again, does this place have any barriers? I mean, where are we going to go? The desert?"

Even Chakotay seemed to be giving up hope.

"Without water that's unlikely. Whatever happens, lets make sure we all stick together. I don't want to loose anymore members of my crew..."

The low wail of some a horn interrupted the command team. It sounded three times in succession, and then stopped. Slowly all the sick and malnourished creatures around them rose and moved in a ghostlike procession in direction of the main building, their bodies casting long shadows on the cracked, hard ground in the light of the rising death star.

Janeway gave Chakotay a questioning glance...

"Breakfast call?" she quipped in an attempt to lighten up the atmosphere between them.

The Native American smiled a little.

"Maybe they serve coffee..." Chakotay jested.

Kathryn grunted a little in amusement. A little bantering felt good, even if it lasted only for a moment. She sobered.

"I suggest we join the flock!"

Voyager's crew joined the eerie procession towards the main building. When they got a little closer they noticed a new addition to the front of the building complex. A platform of some sort rose in front of the structure. They had made their way halfway to the building, when they were intercepted by a dozen heavily armed Kalanar guards, who pushed them onto the platform. Apparently most of the people immediately in front of the platform were not prisoners, but judging by their appearance, well-to-do Kalanar.

None too gently they were shoved onto the platform, some stumbling and falling, but the guards didn't seem to care. Kathryn's heart pounded wildly. What was going on? A low gong sounded deeply through the camp, echoing through the tunnels of the dilithium mines. Kathryn Janeway tried to calm herself, so that she could think straight. Something was not right here...

Groaning with the effort in the morning's heat, Tanar Lyok's overweight form staggered up the steps onto the wooden platform, which had been hastily, erected overnight. He took position in the front, catching his breath and clearing his voice.

"Honored Kalanar nobles, you have come here today to purchase strong, fresh servants for your houses, businesses and fields. Let me tell you that you could not have come at a better time! Only yesterday we were lucky enough to receive almost a hundred strong and exotic prisoners from a world on the other side of the galaxy. Although they have never worked as servants before, I'm sure they'll be easily trained. Let us start the auction with their leader!"

The guards moved towards Kathryn Janeway, grabbed her roughly by both arms and dragged her to the center of the platform. Her head was spinning with panic. They were being sold off like pieces of meat. This could not be happening. They would all end up being separated, most likely leaving Laxys III for any number of other worlds of the grand Kalanar Imperium. She would never be able to track them all down again...She had to do something. She could not allow the crew to be separated any further. So she spoke up,

"No one has ever tried to make slaves out of my people, and no one ever will. They will never serve you, Lyok! They'd rather die than become your servants!"

She directed her speech from Lyok to the crowd of Kalanar assembled before her.

"We come from a society in which the freedom of the individual is a person's most basic right. Through the centuries our people have fought hard to hold on to realize individual freedom, and we're not about to give it up, not without one hell of a fight! Are you willing to be murdered in your own beds, to be poisoned by your kitchen hands, or to be ridiculed in front of your servants? If so, then go ahead with this auction!"

Shocked hushes went through the noble audience at her feet, shortly followed by indignant yells of outrage directed at non other than an embarrassed Tanar Lyok, hallowed overseer of the prison camp on Laxys III.

"Is this all you've got to offer us, Lyok?"

"You mean we traveled all this way to be presented with a bunch of insubordinates?"

"You'd better have something up your sleeve, overseer, or you'll regret having brought me all the way to this godforsaken hell hole of yours!"

Kathryn allowed herself a silent sigh of relief. Her strategy was working. No one among this crowd would be willing to buy a member of her crew. Then Lyok came toward her, hissing,

"You will regret this to the end of your days, Kathryn Janeway! I will make sure that none of your people ever get off this planet alive. And I'll make sure that the short time they have left in the world of the living will be tainted with the terrors of unbearable pain, the heaviest of burdens and the deepest of sorrows. I'll make your life a living hell! You will pay for this embarrassment dearly, Janeway!"

The overseer's curses and threats were interrupted by the now familiar dark sound of a certain man's voice.

"Lyok, I don't mind her insubordinate nature. I'll have her anyway. I'll pay you two hundred gribbecs for the woman."

All faces turned towards the man who had spoken so boldly. Hushed sounds of surprise and astonishment went through the camp.

The tall, dark man moved elegantly up the stairs onto the platform, an aura of power surrounding him like an energy field. Recognizing him for none other than Commissioner Talshek, the audience went to their knees and bowed deeply before him. In response Kathryn's mouth almost fell open with astonishment. Exactly how powerful was her adversary? Was he seriously considering taking her with him? Why? Her eyes briefly met Chakotay's, who was standing just a few meters behind her. He saw the brief flash of panic in her eyes, something the rest of the crew would probably have missed, and tried to reassure her with a calm he did not feel.

Talshek was now moving toward Kathryn. She swallowed hard, trying to control her panic as best as possible.

"Are you going to come voluntarily, or do I have to carry you?" was all he said as he stood looming before her. She glared at him. "I'll take that as a 'no'."

A split second later he lifted her over his shoulder and walked off the platform into the main building. Kathryn began too struggle wildly against his hold, but he would not relent.

Once out of sight from the crowd he sat her down on an upholstered chair in the reception lounge. Never taking his eyes off her, he withdrew a small device from his pocket and pressed a few buttons. All the warning she got was a slight tingling sensation that quickly spread all through her body. Then everything around her disappeared.


	2. Solitary Among The Stars Chapter 2

Solitary Among The Stars 

_By Carolyn Carey_

Chapter 2 "Ingemisco" 

Voyager's crew watched as their captain was carried away towards an uncertain future, a future without them. The tension among them was palpable. Although Captain Janeway had always kept a professional distance from most members of her crew, she was well liked and admired. Voyager had been in trouble many times before, and each time she had gotten them out of it. Her dedication towards her crew was unprecedented, and it had to be, if they were to survive in the Delta Quadrant. When Janeway stated they were going to get home, it sounded like an achievable goal. With her around almost everything seemed possible. She was their captain. Like a light in the dark, they followed her. And now she was gone.

Were they ever going to get out of this? What was going to happen to them? Would Lyok carry out his threats? Was this the end of their journey? Were they never to see their loved ones in the Alpha Quadrant again? And what about their captain, their leader? What did the man they had come to know as Commissioner Talshek have in tow for her?

Chakotay was probably the one hit hardest by the latest events. With the captain gone, the commander was now in charge, and that meant that he was the one now solely responsible for the well-being of the entire crew, a burden that instantly weighed like a ton of bricks upon his shoulders.

Lyok's threats had sounded like he meant them. With her little stunt of insubordination Kathryn Janeway had managed to keep them all together, but at what cost? How long would the overseer carry a grudge? _Probably until hell freezes over_, Chakotay guessed. But all imaginable hardship was still preferable to the separation of the crew. If the auction had taken place, they would have been scattered all over the sector. He would find a way to get the crew out of this, and somehow he would get his captain, and friend, back.

During their years in the Delta Quadrant the ex-Maquis and the Starfleet captain had formed a close friendship, based on mutual trust and admiration. There was a certain chemistry between them, that had almost developed into something more when they had been stranded on the planet they had named 'New Earth.' True, there had been times when their friendship had been put to the test, but they had managed to separate their professional differences from their friendship, had learned from their mistakes, and as a result their friendship had grown stronger day by day.

The thought of never seeing Kathryn again made his stomach knot. But there were other things to be considered now. His personal feelings would have to wait. How would the crew take the loss of their captain? 'Loss', a term that sounded alarmingly permanent. He should not be thinking that way. All he needed was some time to think, and he would come up with a plan... a way to get them out of this hellhole, and a way to get their captain back.

The crowd of Kalanar noblesse before them slowly dispersed, making their way toward the main building. The Voyager crew was led off the platform. The crowd of prisoners had barely begun to scatter, when suddenly everyone stopped dead in their tracks.

Lyok had remained on the platform and now addressed the camp.

"As a result of Kathryn Janeway's insolent behavior, rations will be withheld today. You will all proceed straight to the mines. Lets see how you like to work on an empty stomach!"

Already dozens of hostile glares shot toward the crew. Lyok descended from the platform and started in direction of the main building. When he passed Chakotay he stopped, fixed the Native American with eyes and sneered,

"Lets see how quickly you'll perish with the wrath of your fellow prisoners upon you!"

The first thing she took in was the various colored flashing buttons of computer consoles. The world once again took shape before her eyes, as she reappeared in a control room. Several consoles of alien design lined the walls, and two Kalanar guards lined each side of a narrow doorway. She felt the low hum of warp engines under her feet -- a starship. Of course. Talshek was taking her to his homeworld, wherever that was.

The commissioner signaled his guards.

"Escort her to the guest quarters. And watch out, I'm sure she's been well trained in the art of combat. Don't be fooled by her appearance. She may look like just another female alien prisoner to you, but only yesterday she was in command of a starship. I assume that this _United Federation of Planets_ does not give out such commissions on a whim. I'll be on the bridge."

As he approached the narrow door, it opened with a hydraulic hiss not unlike that of Voyager's automated doors.

Kathryn Janeway was not going to allow him to get away without first providing her with some answers to the myriad of questions that went through her head.

"Commissioner!" she called out after him.

A little to her surprise the man actually stopped and turned toward her.

"You forgot to tell me where we're heading," she stated matter-of-factly in as casual a manner as she could muster. They both knew it was a charade. She desperately wanted to know what he was going to do with her, where he was taking her, and many, many other things. But she had to at least keep up an appearance of nonchalance. It was a matter of pride.

Talshek grinned at her. It was the most unsettling kind of smile, devilish and mocking. Whatever he had in mind for her, it was not going to be a vacation...

"My dear, I'm taking you to my homeworld. I have a large estate on Kalanar Prime. You'll work with the other servants in the fields. That should be an interesting change for you. I've read some of your ship's logs. Oh don't worry, only the official ones so far. I've not quite broken the encryption code to your personal logs. You've been ship bound for quite awhile. Take a look on the bright side. A little physical labor may be just what the doctor ordered."

That was a Machiavellian grin if she had ever seen one.

Janeway merely glared at him, her expression filled with contempt for the man before her. He did not seem the slightest bit unsettled by her death glare, however, and much to her disapproval strolled out of the door without as much as another glance.

The guards roughly dragged her through the sliding doors, towards her quarters, making sure to keep a respectful distance from their leader. But was it really respect, or was it fear? She wondered...

They had simply pushed her through the door of what she could only figure were the 'guest quarters' Talshek had mentioned. If that was the way they accommodated their guests, she did not want to know what their own quarters looked like. Words like spartan and functional came to mind. The room was small, about two meters in length and a little more in width. No pictures adorned the bulkheads, which were made of an almost black alien metallic compound that she did not recognize. The only piece of furniture in the apartment was a bunk, its gray sheets and blankets made from a rough fabric that irritated her skin. It had been placed along the wall, right opposite the door. The mattress was very thin and soft, so thin and soft that she could feel the wiry spirals that supported it when she sat down. It certainly would not offer any comfort during the night. In the corner next to the bed was an area that had been partitioned off by a gray screen. She took a look behind the screen and found a toilet and a small sink. When she held her hands under the water pipe cold water automatically emerged from it. No hot water. Not much comfort either. If these were guest quarters, she would be damned. The room looked more like a cell.

No window meant that she would not be able to determine which way they were going. She had hoped to at least determine the general direction in which the Commissioner's ship was heading away from Laxys III. Talshek was no fool. She had to give him that.

Kathryn Janeway sagged onto the mattress. She had spent hours searching the room for a possible escape route. Her efforts had been fruitless. Exhausted, she sat on her bed, head in her hands. She rubbed the back of her neck. The blow of the Kalanar guards weapon back on Voyager had left her muscles throbbing with agony. If only she could get hold of a hypospray... Of course! That was it. If she pretended to be sick, maybe the Kalanar would come and check on her. She would need a weapon of some kind, but there might just be a chance that she could fool her captors and get out of this cell...

She began to search the room with newly found energy. All she needed was a heavy ornament, a bar of metal, anything...

Not five minutes later she found herself sitting back on the bed. There was simply nothing in the room that could serve her as a weapon. It was hopeless. She would have to wait until they reached their destination. When they finally came for her, she would give them one hell of a fight. Voyager's captain was not going to go into slavery without one heck of a battle.

The pain in her neck and shoulders was getting worse. She could barley support her head any longer. Wearily she lay down, restlessly punching and repositioning the pillow under her head, again and again... She simply could not find a comfortable position. In the end she gave up. Her thoughts inevitably drifted towards Chakotay and her crew. Were they all right? Would they be able to survive in that death camp? Did Chakotay have a plan? She hoped he did, because she certainly did not. And what of little Naomi Wildman? The little girl had barely begun her life. Was this how it was supposed to end? Thousands of light-years away from home, among hostile aliens, never to see her home, or for that matter, her father? Naomi had been born aboard Voyager. Her father was still in the Alpha Quadrant; that was if he had managed to survive the Dominion War...

The specter of death hid around every corner of the galaxy -- barbarism, malevolence, spiteful tyrants, ruthless autocrats, sadistic oppressors, merciless sovereigns... was there no end to violence? Was there indeed no justice in the universe?

The cosmos was so immense that no humanoid would ever be able to travel its entirety in a lifetime. Yet some people were unwilling to share the vastness of space.

Space, so cruel and yet, at the same time, so beautiful. Life created in the translucent eddies of gaseous nebulae, worlds destroyed in the violent explosions of a red giant... Images of the red giant sinking below the horizon of the labor camp on Laxys III flooded her mind, its crimson glow against domed columns of rock casting long, eerie shadows onto the barren ground... The moon rising large in the distance, right between the twin planets that now came into view... Dark clouds, the bearers of doom, looming above her, obscuring the incandescent beauty of an alien night sky. The clouds came towards her, mysterious and foreboding, drawing nearer and gaining speed, until they enveloped her entirely in their somber embrace. Suddenly they did not appear so cheerless anymore, but took on a myriad of colors, an iridescent miasma of swirling vapors representing every hue of the rainbow, and then some more...

The ship lurched forcefully. Kathryn Janeway woke up with a yet another new sensation of pain, all along her left side. She had been thrown off the bed in her sleep. Sleep! How could she have lost control like that? She had a crew to rescue! Chiding herself for her weakness, even if she had only drifted of for scant minutes, she picked herself up and was immediately thrown back as the ship once again temporarily lost inertia. What was going on? Where they under attack? Who would attack the Kalanar? Did they have powerful enemies? Would these people be more civilized? Could they be potential allies? Too many questions...

The vessel rocked again, and this time she was thrown forward, her forehead hitting the solid bars of the bedstead. She groaned, and waited for the initial surge of pain to subside. Her hand automatically touched the spot were she had hurt herself. It felt warm and wet to the touch. She took a look at her hand and wiped it on her pants, leaving deeply crimson stains on the beige fabric. Blood from the cut on her forehead was trickling down right her temple and into her ear. She pushed herself upright and immediately felt a wave of nausea take hold of her. Concussion... that was the last thing she needed. She had to keep a clear head. Too much was at stake.

Kathryn Janeway recognized the sound of a blast of an almighty explosion in the vacuum of space. A shockwave shook the Kalanar vessel one last time, and this time she was prepared for the impact, holding on to the bedstead as best as she could. Then everything was quiet. Whoever they had been, they were gone, their vessel destroyed. It seemed there was no defeating the almighty Kalanar Imperium...

Minutes later the ship jumped out of warp and she felt the unfamiliar motions of a landing vessel. Had they reached their destination?

The door opened and a bright ray of light darted from the corridor into her cell. Crouched on the floor still fighting off the nausea, she blinked into the stabbing brightness. Then two shadows soothingly obscured it for an instant. The shadows entered the room, followed by a larger one. Then the larger one took the lead and crouched next to her, lifting her chin in a way that made her head explode.

"Veron, take her to the house! Thor, get the doctor!"

Talshek! The large shadow was the commissioner. One of the smaller shadows approached. He lifted her up, and for a moment she thought she was going to pass out as an excruciating wave of pain surged through her body. She could not suppress the moan that escaped her lips.

"Try to be more careful, Veron!" the powerful Kalanar chided.

Was that concern for her? Or was he just worried he might lose his new slave and so have wasted his precious... -- what was their currency called again? The pain was clouding her mind. Or maybe it was fatigue? Probably both. She had not slept for three days, not since the Neddiin had forced Voyager to take refuge in the nebula. Some refuge it had turned out to be...

She had finally passed out when the bright sunlight of Kalanar Prime hit her eyes. However, she figured she could not have been unconscious for longer than a few seconds, scant minutes at most, because when awareness in all its horrors returned, the arms of the guard who had carried her were only just lowering her onto a mattress of some sort. She squinted through partly closed eyes, trying to assess her surroundings. Someone was lowering the blinds on the windows. The room was now dim, so that she finally dared to open her eyes fully. It still caused her agony, but it was bearable -- just.

These definitely where no 'guest quarters'! Huge antique paintings lined the fabric-covered walls, depicting alien landscapes and oceans. The ceiling was adorned with tapestries, some of the most beautiful woven artwork she had ever seen. Paradise birds sat or flew among the richly green foliage of exotic trees that carried the most precious blossoms she had ever laid sight on. If these were images of Kalanar Prime, this planet had to be a paradise, alas for her a paradise in hell...

"I can heal the wound on her forehead, but she's suffering from severe concussion. She will need absolute rest until she has completely recovered, Commissioner."

Chakotay had been right. The Kalanar were not quite completely barbarian, not quite.... She was amazed Talshek had actually called a doctor for her. Would he have to pay him? Probably not, otherwise he most likely would not have bothered.

"How long will that take?"

The commissioner's questions were stated in a businesslike manner. There were no concern or sympathy in his tone.

"It's hard to say. I'm unfamiliar with her alien physiognomy. Usually I would estimate a week or two of bed rest, depending on the severity of the concussion and the care the patient receives. But understand this! If no care is taken she will most certainly die of her injuries. Her condition is critical. I'm surprised she did not drift into a coma. I'm going to give her something for the pain now, but someone is going to have to administer the drug to her at regular intervals, otherwise she will die of agony alone."

"Is she in that much pain?"

Was that an attempt to skimp on the medication? Or was that actually concern?

"As I said, I'm amazed she is still conscious.", the doctor merely replied.

The next few days were a conundrum of dreams, semi-consciousness and throbbing headaches. Every now and then someone would come and administer a drug into the side of her neck. Then would follow a period of relief, but it was short-lived. Sometimes she thought it might be better not to take the drug at all. The pain, when it inevitably returned, always seemed to have multiplied in intensity.

One morning she woke from a bad dream, one of many she had had in the past few days, and found that the pain had dulled a little. From then on it got better. The drip that had been fitted to her arm was taken away, and for the first time since she had become a prisoner of the Kalanar, she had eaten. It was only a watery brew of some sort, but its warmth was soothing, and it was good to feel something fill her stomach after all that time. A guard entered shortly after she had finished the meal. He took away the tray and then moved to administer the usual hypospray to her neck.

She put her hand up.

"No. I don't need that anymore. It makes me feel worse."

The guard looked at her in disbelief, then withdrew with a shrug.

That day she had a visitor. The doctor had come back to check on his patient. He examined her with an alien device that vaguely reminded her of a tricorder. Fast steps approached the open door of the room and Talshek, dressed in uniform, entered the chamber. He had not checked on her since the first time the doctor had come.

"How is she?" he enquired in the now familiar business tone.

The doctor studied the readings on his medical device.

"The swelling of the brain tissue has gone down, but its still there. Her neutrino levels are too low and she's weak. I suggest a slow recovery. Short walks, slowly increasing in duration, and plenty of rest and nutrients. I've given her something to boost her neutrinos."

"Have you finished here?"

For an instant the medical expert looked a little offended at the brusque question, but then just nodded and left.

Talshek motioned the two guards that were present to leave the room. He closed the door behind them. What now?

Talshek moved away from her towards one of the windows that were still covered in blinds. He raised the blind and Kathryn saw that the sun had already almost completely set. Talshek continued to raise the blinds on all the windows. There were four of them, large bay windows looking out on the countryside. It was beautiful out there. Rolling green hills covered in dense forests softly rose in the distance, the setting sun casting a golden glow on their grassy peaks. Below the hills lay dozens of fields, all covered in a variety of crops. They looked about ripe for the harvest, not that she was familiar with the alien crops, but she had grown up in a farming community in Indiana, and she had acquired a sixth sense for such things. Diagonally from the hills towards the house ran a small river, the sinking sun turning the water into liquid gold.

She had been so caught up in the beauty of the view before her, that she had not noticed the commissioner's scrutinizing glances until her eyes accidentally met his.

"I see the scenery meets with your approval, Captain."

"It's beautiful," she simply stated.

"Thank you. It's my land, as far as the eye can see. The grounds have been in my family for generations, as has this house. But I did not come here to discuss my property with you."

He paused and approached her sickbed. For a moment he simply stood before her, assessing her. Then he spoke.

"How are you feeling?"

"What?" she asked, a little perplexed by the question. The doctor had just told him how she was.

"How are you feeling?"

The irony of it all was too much. Here he was, the man who had abducted her and her crew, who had taken her ship and put her crew into a labor camp -- 'death camp' was probably closer to the truth --, the man who had purchased her as a slave like a piece of meat on the market... And here he was asking how she felt? She guffawed in disgust.

"How do you think I feel, Commissioner? You've taken away my freedom. You've separated me from my crew in order to enslave me and 'take me into your service', whatever that means. My crew could be dead by now for all I know. And you've taken from us the only hope we had of ever getting home -- Voyager, our home from home. To top things off you keep me locked up in a cell while your ship is under attack, and I wind up with severe concussion. How do you expect me to feel, Talshek?" she spat.

There was a short flare of anger in his eyes, but then he calmly continued,

"I was referring to your concussion."

"Oh, well, I feel like I could do cartwheels! Would you like me to demonstrate?" she countered.

He had had enough of her sarcasm.

"If that's the case you can start work in the fields tomorrow. I'll have you moved to the servants' quarters. Veron!" Talshek barked.

The guard appeared almost immediately.

"Take the captain to the servants' quarters. She's feeling better." he barked.

Fine. Just as long as she did not have to listen to his stupid questions one moment longer. She would prefer to sleep in a ditch as long as it meant that he kept out of her sight. She tried to crawl out of the bed that she had occupied for at least a week, and was surprised at how much difficulty such a simple task was causing her. Dizziness overcame her, but she ignored it and carried on, despite the fact that black spots were now dancing before her eyes. She was literally moving blindly.

Veron shot confused glances between her and his commanding officer, but he did not say anything. When she rose on very shaky legs, he steadied her and began to escort her out of the room. She thought she would fall the moment her legs were required to support her bodyweight, but Veron kept her upright with an iron grip. When they were safely out of the commissioner's sight, he began to carry her, and she let him. She could not have moved another inch.

The building that encompassed the servants' quarters was annexed to the eastern side of the manor house. The river went by it not fifty meters away. Veron told her that the servant got their drinking water from there. He helped her into the sorry looking bunk in the decrepit room that she shared with another two-dozen servants of mixed gender and varied species. All of them were alien to the Kalanar homeworld. Apparently the Kalanar had made quite a habit out of abducting aliens and enslaving them. The others had not paid her much attention when Veron had carried her into the room. That was hardly surprising, since they all looked just about as weak as herself. Veron had then gone down to the river and filled a small flask with water. He had helped her drink a few sips, before leaving. The sun had completely disappeared below the horizon, and darkness enveloped the room. Apparently there were no lights, so everyone went to sleep. She could not. Too many things were going through her head. Chakotay, the others... was it night now on Laxys III, or was the scorching heat of the red giant burning down on them? And where was Voyager? What had Talshek done with her proud ship?

She thought of all the people who had become a second family to her, and who were now never to see their friends and kin in the Alpha Quadrant again. She thought of Tom Paris, son of her mentor Admiral Paris, who would now never be able to make amends with his estranged father. She thought of B'Elanna, who had developed from a stroppy little fiery half-Klingon into a valuable officer and the best goddamn engineer she had ever had. She thought of Seven, who would never have the chance to meet what was left of her human family, of Naomi, who would never see the Alpha Quadrant or her father; of Harry Kim, who had been so desperate to get back home. He would never see his beloved parents again. She thought of Tuvok, her Vulcan friend, who had left behind a wife and three children. And she thought of Chakotay, the former Maquis leader who had become the best first officer to serve under her, and a dear friend. Chakotay had not left much behind in the Alpha Quadrant. His Maquis friends had all been killed by the Cardassian-Dominion alliance. His father was dead, and he had never talked about anyone else back home. She hoped he was alive and well. He had always been a great support to her, and she missed him sorely now.

And she thought of the beautiful blue planet that was so very far away -- the world, which she called home: Earth. No matter how picturesque and exotic some of the worlds in the Delta Quadrant had turned out to be, there simply was no place like home. Home. She would never see it again.

Under the shroud of darkness of the Kalanar night, accompanied by the strange sleeping sounds of people and species she did not know, Kathryn Janeway quietly allowed the tears that had been ready to spill for such a long time to flow freely. Eventually she cried herself to sleep.


	3. Solitary Among The Stars Chapter 3

Solitary Among The Stars 

_By Carolyn Carey_

Chapter 3 "Lacrymosa" 

The black of night made way for an azure of unseen depth. Birdsong bid the rising sun a cheerful welcome. A paradise bird sat in the branches of the large tree that stood next to the servant's quarters, the first rays of daylight playing with the fireworks of its plumage, its long tail fanned in a cascade of feathers. Droplets of dew covered grass and foliage. Insects and exotic humming birds began their daily buzz. Kalanar Prime was a planet of exceptional beauty.

The explosive sound of an enormous bell shattered the peaceful tranquility of the early morning, causing the birds to flee frantically and shaking Kathryn Janeway violently out of her sleep. The servants she shared the barren quarters with were already up and moving towards the exit. A little delirious she sat up, trying to collect herself. She would have to work in the fields today, and her head was still killing her. She felt dizzy and the nausea that had been her constant companion for the past week continued to stay with her. Her throat burned dryly. She took the flask that Veron had left with her the night before and raised it to her lips, savoring the still cool liquid it contained. She was alone in the room now. Everybody else had already left. A guard she had never seen before entered the room, the step of his boots heavy on the stony floor. Warily she stopped what she was doing and fixed him with her eyes. He approached her fast, catapulting the flask out of her hand. It fell to the ground with a loud clang, liberally spilling its precious contents.

"Get out and clean up this mess! Then come outside where we will assign you a section of land you are to work today. Now move! I have no time for slow workers. If you're not out of here by the time I've counted to ten I'll have you disciplined. Maybe the whip will give you energy!" the brute boomed, and began to count loudly.

"One..."

Kathryn moved her legs over the side of the bed, her bare feet making contact with the cold floor.

"...Two..."

She braced herself and pushed her body off the bed with her arms, coming to stand on shaky legs.

"...Three...four..."

She took a hesitant step forward.

"...Five...six..."

She grabbed a corner of her sheet, bent down with great care, holding on to her balance for dear life, and soaked up the spilled water from the flask.

"...Seven...eight..."

She had managed to rise again without losing her balance, but black dots were dancing before her eyes again.

Carefully she put one foot before the other and approached the doorway.

"...Nine...ten!"

The light of the rising sun warmed her skin. To her left was a queue of servants, receiving their rations for the day. She went to join them.

Breakfast had turned out to be burned and lumpy goo that reminded her of burned porridge. Then she had been assigned the section of a field that she was supposed to work today. It was a large section of land that contained some sort of a root vegetable not unlike a potato.

The red soil of the field was hard and caked by the heat of summer. All she had been given to work with was a small shovel. Armed guards were everywhere, making sure that the servants, and there were several hundred of them, were doing their job efficiently. Care was taken that there was a considerable distance between the servants, so that they could not communicate with each other. Everyone worked in eerie silence.

She had been hanging on, but when the sun reached its zenith she needed to rest. For hours she had been kneeling in the dirt, digging up the roots, breaking the hardened soil with the shovel and then loosening the earth around the roots with her bare hands, as to not damage the crop. The nausea had increased, but it was nothing compared to the fire that burned in her throat. She licked dry lips and continued to dig. She was about to learn the hard way that taking breaks was not a good idea. When she felt particularly weak and dizzy, she paused briefly in her work to collect herself. One of the guards came over and brutally kicked her in the side, the impact of his hard boots against her soft flesh and ribs causing her to gasp and groan in agony. She would not repeat that mistake.

Her hands were blistering badly; the blisters started to weep, and by mid-afternoon blood covered the wooden handle of her tool. Children were made to pick up the roots and put them into containers. By now the heat was scorching, and Kathryn's gaze involuntarily drifted toward the river in the distance. How she yearned for a sip of cold water. The only drink here was for the guards' use. They carried small flasks attached to the belts of their uniforms. Every now end then they would demonstratively gulp from them, showing off in front of the workers, teasing cruelly. Kathryn Janeway tried not to think of water. She had to concentrate on keeping up with the work. She could feel what little strength she had left slip from her as the minutes passed. The sun was about to set now. Soon it would be over, at least until tomorrow.

Dusk finally arrived, its cooling air soothing her hot skin and aching muscles. The containers with the crop were loaded onto carts and driven towards the house. The servants had to walk back to their quarters, led by the guards. She barely made it back, collapsing onto her bunk, not even bothering to collect her nightly ration of food. Her entire body was shaking with exertion, her bones and muscles screaming with pain, but her hands had taken the most punishment. Large wounds had formed on her fingers and in the palms of her hands, bleeding profusely. The dirt of the dry ground and the splinters of the wooden handle of her shovel had dug their way into the wounds. She could only hope that she would get away without an infection...

After resting for a while she managed to drag her body to the river. Most of the servants had gathered there, silently consuming their rations in front of small campfires and cooling their faces with the river water. The water was refreshing, and she wanted nothing more than to throw herself into it and wash off the day's heat and dirt. But that was not possible. There was no privacy here. So she washed her hands and face thoroughly, ripping shreds of material from her tunic to serve as bandages. She would try to come back to the river when everyone had gone to bed. Maybe then she could attempt to bathe.

Feeling at least a little revived, she returned to the quarters, crawled under the covers of her bunk and dozed for awhile. Not long afterwards the other prisoners joined her.

A few hours later everything was quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the regular breathing of sleeping servants, intermittently disturbed by soft snoring sounds. Animal cries sounded in the distance. Careful not to make any noise Kathryn slid out of her bunk and slipped through the door, almost stumbling over a guard sleeping on a chair by the door. So they guarded the servants' quarters overnight...Security was tighter than she had thought. On tiptoes she stole away from the building, avoiding to tread on sticks and branches as to not to alert the sleeping guard. Finally she made it to the river. She followed its path for a while, away from the house, until it bent sharply. Where it curved the flow of the water had formed a small pool with hardly any current at all. Cautiously scanning the area around her with her eyes to make sure she was not being watched, Kathryn Janeway slowly divested her bruised body of its clothing, leaving the plain prisoner's uniform neatly folded on the shore, and lowered herself into the water.

The river was cold, but after the day's heat it was soothing. She dipped her head under and cleaned her hair of dust and grime. Then she rubbed at her skin, cleaning her body of the filth it had accumulated in the fields. Too exhausted to swim she simply allowed her body to float. This was to be her refuge. Her little piece of heaven amidst this hell, a place where she could think. And there was only one matter to think about: How to get herself and her crew back on the course for home.

When she began to shiver from the chill of the water, she dried herself off with her trousers, donned the tunic and went back to her bunk.

Similar days followed, days of hardship and suffering, as her immune system fought a losing battle against the infection in her hands, and the pain increased day after day. She left her hands constantly covered in her makeshift bandages, so that she could somehow continue to work. The nausea that the concussion had caused never subsided, and she grew slighter. She knew she should try to eat more, but she could never manage to queue for food after a hard day's work. Exhaustion and sickness simply demanded rest, so she missed out on her nightly ration time and again. She developed a fever. Each day she grew weaker as it took a firm hold on her. But each night she would sneak out of the servants' quarters unnoticed and seek refuge in the cool pool of water where the river took a turn, cooling herself down in a desperate attempt to fight the fever. She knew it would not be enough, and in the end the fever would win and she would die, but she would be damned if she did not fight it with everything she had left.

It was the seventh night, and Kathryn Janeway was bathing in the pool, enjoying the numbing cold of the water on her throbbing hands and her burning skin. As usual her thoughts drifted to her crew. She wondered how they were faring on Laxys III. There had to be a way to get them back. If only she could get to a vessel... That had been her original escape plan, to get hold of a ship and try to get off the planet. But she had yet to lay eye on a spacecraft since her arrival on Kalanar Prime. Where the commissioner was keeping his vessel was a complete mystery to her.

She was startled by a rustling sound behind her on the riverbank. Janeway spun around.

"Good evening, Captain."

Talshek smirked as he stood on the riverbank, holding the clothes she had neatly placed there.

"I see you've gotten into quite a ritual here... I've been watching you closely for the past week, my dear. It's really quite intriguing."

Janeway stood frozen to the riverbed, feeling her cheeks burn with anger, embarrassment and probably the fever. The moon shone brightly tonight so that the dark water was not concealing very much of her from his sight. He had been watching her every single night? She dreaded to think how much of her he had already seen.

The commissioner seemed to be examining her clothes. He shook his head.

"These clothes really are in a state, Kathryn... You should be taking greater care with them."

Finally, completely outraged, she found her tongue.

"If you had provided me with descent living conditions and maybe at least one change of clothing that would not have been a problem."

He gave her a devilish grin.

"You have broken one of my house regulations, Captain. Servants are not supposed to leave their quarters after sunset. Didn't you know that? I thought the guard in front of the servants' house would make that pretty obvious. You have broken that rule seven times in as many days. Do you have any idea what the punishment for such an offense is?", he asked matter-of-factly, in a voice so calm he could have been having a conversation about last week's weather... It ground at her nerves.

"I have no doubt you will tell me." Janeway responded sardonically.

"If a servant is discovered out of quarters only once, the punishment is a withdrawal of all rations for three days. If it occurs repeatedly, the penalty is death... a slow and painful death. The traditional form of execution in this case is a series of tortures that the prisoner's physiology will eventually succumb to. There's only so much a person can take, you know..."

Talshek looked her straight into the eyes, as he revealed the truth of her predicament. Janeway swallowed hard, and fought to maintain her composure. Her face was a mask of stone, yet heart was beating violently.

Talshek measured her silently, scrutinizing her, searching for a sign of weakness. Not finding one he continued,

"I will have you confined to a cell. The punishment will be carried out at dawn. Sunrise is a beautiful time to die on Kalanar Prime. Nature truly is at its most magnificent at daybreak. Your screams will join the singing of the paradise birds. Just imagine, a harmonious mixing of the sounds of heaven and hell..."

Again there was a short period of silence between them, in which each of them seemed to attempt to stare the other one out.

He was testing her. She knew. Did he really expect her to beg for mercy? She would not give him the gratification.

"Are you ready to die, Kathryn?"

When she did not answer he drew a disruptor gun and threw the trousers at her.

"Here! Dry yourself and get out of there."

Janeway did as she was told. She had little choice in the matter, with the deadly weapon pointed at her. The Commissioner was eyeing her in a most unsettling way. She wished he had the decency to turn away until she had donned the tunic, but no such luck. He was watching her every move, cataloguing every curve of her body. When she had thrown over the tunic, he motioned her to step in front of him, so that he could keep an eye on her while he escorted her to her cell, wherever that was. As she attempted to move past him to walk in front of him he suddenly grabbed her wrist and spun her around so that she had to look straight at him.

"Of course, if you were still of some use to me, I could pardon you...."

Her eyes grew wider, and she hoped to God that they did not look pleading.

"I reviewed your ships records. They are quite impressive. You have fought many species during your travels in this quadrant, including the Borg, and you have managed to survive each time, mostly thanks to your scientific expertise and wise leadership. I was particularly impressed with the way you used the Borg nanoprobes to defeat Species 8472, and so forced the Borg into compliance with your terms for an alliance. An alliance with the Borg is unheard of in this part of space. I've also read your Starfleet profile. You are a most capable scientist. Help us develop a weapon against the Neddiin and I will grant you your life."

Kathryn Janeway pulled her wrist out of his grasp and snorted in disgust.

"If you, as you say, have reviewed Voyager's record banks, then you must have come across our cardinal law, the Prime Directive. You know I can't do what you ask. And I wouldn't want to if I could."

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time you ignored your Prime Directive now, would it? But would you really be violating it? The Neddiin attacked your ship, too. They crippled Voyager. I was amazed to see your weapons arsenal and defense systems. Voyager is a remarkable vessel, and her captain very experienced in battle. If you had not been so weakened by the Neddiin, I doubt that I would have had the chance to impound your vessel."

"The answer is NO, commissioner. I will never aid tyrants like the Kalanar to achieve their dark goals."

"Not even against tyrants like the Neddiin? What if I not only granted you your life, but also that of your crew, Captain?", he smirked.

This was the opportunity she had been waiting for... to be reunited with her crew. But there was no guarantee that Talshek would be true to his word. Most likely he would use her, then break his promises.

"Commissioner, would you mind telling me why Commissioner Talshek of the all powerful Kalanar Imperium would want to seek help from a lowly prisoner like me?"

Talshek grew serious.

"I won't lie to you, Captain. We are desperate. The war with the Neddiin is crippling us far more than we had anticipated. They have destroyed and enslaved many of our homeworlds that were bordering their space. Lately they've been getting ever closer to Kalanar Prime. You may remember the attack on my ship, when I brought you here..."

How could she forget?

"And as I recall, you destroyed the Neddiin attack vessel without too much trouble."

"It was only a small cruiser, Captain. I'm talking about hundreds of their warships..."

"And you think that I can help you to develop a weapon that will defeat the Neddiin? You are delusional, Commissioner."

"I don't think so. I think you have faced far greater challenges in the past."

"I won't help you fight your little war. If you want to kill innocent people and conquer new worlds in order to extend your Imperium, then do it yourself."

"Captain Janeway, the Neddiin are hardly innocent. They attack without provocation."

"_You_ attacked _Voyager_ without provocation."

"That was different. You entered our space without permission, violated our borders."

"We didn't even know of your existence..."

Against her will tears of anger were beginning to well in her eyes. She spun away in disgust, her hands painfully twisting out of his grasp. She winced and hoped he took no notice. He was getting to her, and she wanted to beat him into a pulp for it. Janeway gritted her teeth.

He approached from behind her until she could feel his breath on her hair. She suppressed a shudder. Then he purred, his lips almost touching her ear,

"Kathryn, if you help us fight the Neddiin I will pardon you and your crew and let you go. I'll even return you to your vessel. You'll get safe passage out of our space. Think about it. You have been traveling for more than five years. Do you want it to end this way, or do you want to go home? All you have to do is agree to help us. You can see your Earth again, or you can die in the morning, your crew's fate uncertain. The choice is yours."

Very slowly she turned to face him. If there was a devil incarnate she was sure he was it. Even Q had not been this crafty when he had tempted her with a fast return to Earth.

"Why?" she hissed.

"Why what?" he asked, a little confused by her question.

"Why Voyager, why my crew, why me? Why won't you leave us alone? Isn't it enough that you have enslaved us, stolen our vessel and robbed us of all hope of ever getting home again? Why do you have to continue to torment us, to dangle the carrot?"

There was that damned devilish grin again. It immediately sent a shiver down her spine.

"Because, my dear captain, I find you endlessly fascinating. The way you sacrifice yourself for your crew, the way you try to hold on to your morals, the way you sneak out at night to bathe... And don't think I don't know that you will try to escape at the first opportunity. But are you willing to help your captor against a common enemy for your crew's sake, if not for your own?"

"No."

"What?"

"I said 'no'."

"Alright then, you will die at dawn, and your crew will join your fate on Laxys III."

His words, so casually spoken, rung in her ears.

"Hang on, you said 'I' would die. You never mentioned my crew. They are innocent bystanders who obey my orders. This is my decision. I alone should take responsibility. They should not suffer the consequences. It wouldn't be fair."

"Who said anything about being fair, captain? I say they die, and they will. Now, Captain, if you'd just move on, slowly."

She stood frozen to the ground. He was serious. She could see it in his cold eyes. He would kill her crew, including little Naomi. She could not allow that to happen, to hell with pride and the hallowed Prime Directive. She did not give a damn anymore.

"All right, you win.", she said in a tone that seemed to make even the still humid air freeze.

Talshek turned towards her in disbelief.

"I don't think I heard you then, Captain. What did you say?"

"I said, you win! I'll help you develop your weapon," she all but growled.

Talshek's eyes had grown a little wider in surprise.

"You'll sacrifice your high morals for the sake of your crew. I'm impressed, Captain. Such humanity, such selflessness. Your compassion is most moving. It's your greatest weakness, you know... I will introduce you to my science team in the morning. Follow me to the house. You'll receive fresh clothing. You'll sleep in the manor house tonight. Have you dined yet?"

She could not believe this man. One moment he would threaten to kill her, the next he would invite her to dinner. When she did not answer, he simply added,

"You will join me for dinner once you have freshened up. Now come."

They walked in chilling silence toward the house.

He had made her take a bath, and she had hated every minute of it. He had made her put on fresh clothes, a white gown of exquisite beauty, made from the most delicate materials she had ever seen, and she felt like a traitor. He had shown her to a chamber of magnificent splendor, and she had to suppress the rising bile in her throat. How could she live like this when there where hundreds of slaves suffering in desperate conditions, when her crew was dying on the hellhole that called itself Laxys III? How could she? But she had no choice.

Talshek on the other hand appeared to take great enjoyment in seeing her squirm. To kill with kindness...

They had dined together, and he had made her force down every single bite on her plate. The food was delicious. On the table lay the most precious delicacies to be found in the vastness of the Kalanar Imperium. Yet to her it all tasted like stale cardboard. When she finally got back to her room, the food forced its way back out of her body. Physically and emotionally exhausted she fell into a restless sleep on a bed that was far too comfortable for decency, haunted by nightmares that roused her time and again, her heart threatening to jump out of her body each time she woke.


	4. Solitary Among The Stars Chapter 4

Solitary Among The Stars 

_By Carolyn Carey_

Chapter 4 "Rex Tremedae" 

The sun rose yet again. Kathryn Janeway lay exhausted in her bed. She had had one of the worst nights in her life. Nightmare after nightmare had roused her from her much needed sleep. She could have killed for a cup of coffee, but that seemed to be the only delicacy the Kalanar had not yet discovered. She got up and walked over to the window. Moving the drapes to one side she gazed out onto the beautiful vista of the Kalanar countryside. Yet to her the land no longer held any charm. There was something to the human adage, _"It's the people who make a place..." _In this case the people had turned this paradise sour.

She knew she was to meet with Talshek's science team today. She was to help them develop a weapon against the Neddiin. It was against everything she believed in, her own personal morals, the Prime Directive, Starfleet, the Federation, everything she stood for. But she was only doing this in order to get her crew back. She had no intention to really help the Kalanar develop in their war against the Neddiin. She would pretend and hope they would fall for her guise.

The fever still had a firm hold on her. She shivered slightly. Her throat burned dryly, but she had gotten so accustomed to the sensation to the point were she no loner felt a craving for water.

There was a knock on the door and a servant entered with a tray of food and drink and a dress draped over his arm. Under different circumstances she would have marveled at the beautiful colors, style and the exquisite material of the garment, but in this case the sight of it alone left a bitter taste in her mouth. The servant put the tray down and hung the dress over the back of a chair. Then he went into the adjacent bathroom and started running her bathwater. The perfume of intoxicating bath oil assaulted her senses. She sighed heavily and resigned herself to the fact that she would have to act the part for the time being. She would have to take that bath, have at least some of the food and put on that dress.

After quickly having completed the tedious morning ritual that had been forced upon her, Kathryn Janeway stood in front of a mirror and admired herself in her new dress. The sight of herself made her sick. She wanted to throw something at her reflection and shatter the damn mirror into a thousand pieces. She needed some air, so she rushed over to the window and opened it wide, leaning out with her eyes closed and breathing in deeply. The fresh morning air was soothing.

There was another knock at the door and someone entered the room.

Kathryn Janeway stiffened.

"Ah! I see your enjoying the beautiful morning. The view is quite something, isn't it?"

Wearily she turned around to face the commissioner.

"I must say, the dress is very becoming." he commented whilst his eyes raked over her figure.

The gauze-like material of the garment clung to her every curve, and its azure shades accentuated the blue of her eyes.

"Lets skip the pleasantries, Commissioner. Why don't you get straight to the point of your visit?"

Talshek was not used to being talked to in such a manner. His features darkened briefly, but then he continued,

"You and I will take a little trip to our research facility in the Tumani cluster. That's were the development of the weapon is taking place. I will introduce you to my science team, and we will remain there for one week. If after that period you have not made any valuable contributions to the project, I will nullify our agreement, and you and your crew will be executed. Is that understood?"

Kathryn Janeway took a deep breath and then nodded once.

"Good. Come!"

He waved his hand in a grand gesture, motioning her to move ahead of him. She complied, but when she had just passed him he moved next to her, his hand supporting the small of her back. Kathryn stopped dead and fixed him with angry eyes that allowed no compromise in this matter.

The commissioner raised his hand in silent capitulation and gestured her to move on. She thought she heard him mutter something like "It's going to be a long week". Silently they walked all the way out of the house, across the well-maintained lawn into a vessel that she had not seen since her arrival on Kalanar Prime.

This time he allowed her to remain on the bridge. She sat in a chair next to his, towards the center of the bridge. On the viewscreen the stars streaked by at warp speed. Several Kalanar soldiers worked at consoles that lined the bulkheads of the ovoid bridge.

They had been traveling in silence for what seemed like hours. Janeway could barely keep her back straight any longer. The fever had taken its toll on her, and she felt herself grow weaker yet again. She could not allow it to take over. She had to hold on somehow, until she had her crew and Voyager back, although somehow she very much doubted that Talshek was going to keep his promises. Then again, she was not about to keep her end of the bargain either.

The ship dropped out of warp and a star cluster became visible in the distance. However, there was no sign of the starbase that Talshek had mentioned. She frowned. Was this one of his little tricks?

Seeing her confusion, Talshek smirked.

"Don't worry, Captain. The base is there. It's hiding behind a moon somewhere in that cluster."

"What's our ETA?" Talshek barked at one of his officers.

The reply came immediately, like a gunshot.

"Thirty-four minutes, Sir!"

Then another officer interrupted,

"Sir, I'm reading a vessel, one hundred and forty light-years off our starboard bow... correction, three vessels."

Talshek tensed, his hands balling into tight fists.

"Configuration?"

"They are Neddiin fighters, Sir! They have assumed tactical formation and are on an intercept course."

"Do we have enough time to get to the research facility before they reach us?"

"No, Sir. At current speed they will intercept in twelve minutes."

"Screens up! Battlestations!"

The ship lurched slightly as its shields went up around it. As opposed to Voyager during red alert, the bridge remained fully lit.

"Helm, get us to the nearest planet, moon or asteroid, somewhere where we can hide. Standby weapons! Show me those ships!"

Kathryn Janeway thought she could smell the fear on the Kalanar Bridge. Judging by the commissioner's and his crew's reactions, the situation was serious. Three vicious looking Neddiin fighters appeared on the small viewscreen. Voyager's captain had become quite familiar with their sleek, obsidian design. Their hull was almost black, hiding them from the bare eye. The design was streamlined for maximum maneuverability, and the fighter vessels were heavily armed. These ships were the exact same kind that had forced Voyager to her knees, although only through sheer outnumbering. Her ship would have been able to withstand an attack of only three Neddiin fighter vessels, but the small Kalanar cruiser was obviously no match for them.

"Sir, I can't take us to safety before they intercept." the helm officer reported with a shaky voice.

Kathryn fixed her gaze on Talshek and for a split second she saw panic in his eyes.

"Alright, we will have to engage them. Fire weapons on my command! How long until they get here?"

"Two minutes, Sir!

The ships now filled the entire viewscreen.

"Reduce magnification by three hundred percent!" Talshek barked.

His eyes met hers, and there was something in them that she had not seen before. An apology? Was he sorry for drawing her into this?

The small Kalanar cruiser lurched violently as the first wave of Neddiin weapons fire hit. Consoles exploded and people tumbled about. Kathryn held onto her chair with an iron grip. Talshek's face had turned to stone.

"Evasive maneuvers! Fire at will!" he barked through clenched teeth.

The ship lurched again, and this time the inertial dampeners went offline, causing the floor to tilt to port. Janeway was hurled off her chair and hit her side hard against one of the consoles. Then the ship regained inertia as quickly as it had lost it, the only evidence of the disaster being her painfully bruised ribs.

"Damage report!" Talshek shouted over the chaos on the bridge.

"Inertial dampeners went offline, emergency systems are holding. Warp drive and impulse power are offline, shields are down to two percent. Sensors are blind. Life support is failing..."

Another officer interrupted,

"Sir, the Neddiin are hailing us! Audio only!"

Talshek nodded sharply.

The raspy voice of a Neddiin filled the bridge.

"Kalanar vessel, you will be boarded. You are prisoners of war. Resist arrest and you will die."

Janeway rolled her eyes. Why did the species in the Delta Quadrant all have the same lines?

Talshek and Janeway were separated from the other officers and thrown into the same cell, much to Janeway's dismay. She wanted to get as much distance from him as possible. Then two Neddiin guards came and took Talshek away. Maybe there was a God after all?

The sickening sweet smell of decay hung around the ship. Was it some odor the Neddiin gave off, similar pheromones in human? Or were they simply unhygienic? Much like the Kalanar, the Neddiin appeared almost human, except for the two small cavities right between their eyes, and a double row of sharp pointy teeth that lined both jaws. They were a little taller on average than humans and wore military uniforms. It was clear they were a war faring race, judging by their ships and uniforms, and the way they showed their hospitality...

Kathryn was shaken out of her thoughts by a loud scream, followed by a long wail. Then the screaming started again, this time even louder. The cries went on and on, until they turned into crazed shrieks. She held her ears in horror. Whoever that voice belonged to was in absolute agony. Following the final shriek came an eerie silence.

Heavy footsteps approached the cell, and the guards threw Talshek back in. He collapsed in a heap on the cold metal ground.

Shocked, Kathryn went down on her knees and examined his still form. His pulse was very faint, and he was unconscious. She rolled him around so that she could see his front and gasped when she saw the state he was in. His face was covered in vicious bruises and lacerations, his nose looked broken. His lower arm appeared dislocated and hung at an odd angle. The swelling off his hands could only mean one thing -- his fingers had been broken. Blood stuck to his dark hair. She could only guess at what they had done to the rest of his body.

As much right as she had to hate this man, she could not help but feel compassionate. He deserved a lot, but this was too much. She tore some fabric off her dress and began to wipe his face. If they were going to get out of here, he would have to regain consciousness, and she would make sure he did. She bent down until her lips almost touched his ear and whispered urgently,

"Talshek, wake up! Open your eyes!"

Nothing happened.

She continued to speak into his ear, and eventually her efforts were rewarded with a low moan emanating from deep within his throat.

"Commissioner, I know you're in pain, but please look at me! Open your eyes!"

He moaned again, and then his eyelids opened scant millimeters.

"I'm ... sorry..." he rasped, then moaned again.

"Shhhh... don't speak. Just listen. We have to get out of here, but I'm going to need your help. Is there any way we can contact your officers?"

Talshek gasped in pain.

"They're.... dead..."

"What?"

"The Neddiin... it's what they do.... They've .... feasted on them..."

"WHAT?"

"They're carnivores.... eat other species.... sometimes even each other... cannibals..."

Suddenly the origin of the sweet, foul smell that hovered in the air became only too apparent. Kathryn Janeway shuddered and suppressed the urge to retch.

She pushed the abhorrent thoughts that flodded her mind aside and concentrated on the problem at hand. If they were cannibals, they would not want to miss out on feasting on the commissioner if her were dead. If she called for the guards and pretended that he had died, if she could then overpower them when they entered the cell, and if she could then get hold of a weapon and overpower the crew of the Neddiin ship, they might just stand a chance. Too many 'ifs'... She was sure that Tuvok would have given her one of his dire estimates of her plans chance to succeed, had he been present... What would it be? One in two billion? And how many Neddiin were on this vessel?

"Talshek... how many are there?"

"The average... Neddiin fighter has a crew... compliment of thirteen..."

It was less than she had thought, but still too many... Still, it was their only chance of survival. She did not intend to become the special on tonight's menu...

"Talshek, play dead!"

"Kathryn, what...? You can't possibly take them on..."

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve." she said with a confidence she did not feel.

She went up to the forcefield and shouted,

"Hey, somebody get this carcass out of here! He's beginning to smell!"

She did not have to wait long. One of the Neddiin guards came towards the cell and lowered the forcefield. He stepped inside and bent down to feel the Kalanar's pulse, licking his lips in anticipation. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his neck. It was the last thing he would remember before falling back into darkness. Talshek's eyes opened wide in disbelief.

"How?"

"I knew getting Tuvok to teach me the Vulcan neck pinch would come in handy sometime," she smirked.

She bent over the motionless body of the Neddiin soldier and grabbed his disruptor rifle. Then, concerned clearly written on her face, she turned back to Talshek.

"Can you walk?"

"I don't know..."

The Kalanar commissioner carefully sat up and tried to get to his feet, but he was too weak.

"Here, let me help you."

Janeway slung her arm under his shoulders and hoisted him up with a groan, supporting almost his entire bodyweight. She would not be able to last long this way. He was a slim, but well-built man, and he was about a foot taller than she. The laws of physics worked against them. Luckily, after the initial hoist, he seemed to be able to find his balance, and after a few hesitant steps he was able to support more of his own weight, although he still relied on her to steady him.

They stopped at a door that led out into a corridor, resting for a while.

"Kathryn, there is something you must know..."

She shook her head.

"It can wait. Safe your strength, Talshek!"

"No, I must tell you... the research facility on the starbase... in the Tumani cluster... it's where we keep Voyager..."

"What?"

"If you... get out of here alive... take your ship and free your crew!"

He took a deep shuddering breath. Talking was obviously too much for him. Then he took a small data pad out of the pocket of his uniform.

"Here are the shield calibrations... for the penal colony on Laxys III."

She looked at him in disbelief. He was perfectly serious.

"I'm sorry... for what I've done to you... and your crew... I don't want to die without knowing that you know that."

Kathryn Janeway took the pad from him and comfortingly squeezed the shoulder of the man she had come to think of as her worst enemy until scant minutes ago.

"You're not going to die, Talshek. Now, lets go!"

They met up with the second guard just outside the room that contained their cell. Janeway pointed her disruptor rifle at him.

"I hope this is set for stun", she thought, just before she shot him.

The Neddiin collapsed to the ground. She felt his pulse. It was weak, but steady. Hurriedly Talshek and Janeway continued on their way to the Neddiin fighter's bridge.

They examined every room they passed in order to make sure that they were not being attacked from behind. Yet room after room was empty. The ship seemed deserted.

At one point they had stormed a chamber that lay in total darkness. A potent wave of the sickening sweet odor that went through the entire vessel assaulted their senses. Janeway stumbled over something on the ground and fell, her hands making contact with a sticky metallic floor. Talshek ordered the lights on. The harrowing view that greeted their eyes made their blood curl. Humanoid bones were scattered all over the ground and tables. Dried blood lined the walls and furniture, as well as most of the floor. Janeway realized in horror that what she had tripped over was the skull of a humanoid. Her hands were covered in a sticky red substance -- blood. Severed limbs lay everywhere, some half consumed. But the most harrowing sight of all was the head of a Kalanar soldier sitting on a table, its dead eyes staring at Janeway and her companion, its bloodstained mouth gaping in a silent scream of terror.

Talshek slid to the ground. These were the remnants of his people, his crew. He averted his eyes. Janeway fought against the rising bile in her throat. Tears rose in her eyes. There was no word to describe the evil of the Neddiin. She had thought of Talshek as the devil incarnate... Well, it looked like she had been wrong. The Neddiin were by far more malicious. As quickly as she could manage she dragged the injured commissioner out of the Neddiin mess hall.

The door closed behind them and they took in the purer air of the corridor. The pungent smell of the cadavers in the adjacent room however clung to them, or maybe they just imagined that it did.

Finally they cowered in front of the door to the control center. Janeway set her disruptor rifle for a wide stun beam. It was the only way they would stand a chance against the rest of the Neddiin. They had not run into any more soldiers. Apparently they were all on the bridge.

When Janeway gave the sign, Talshek activated the door controls, and it opened with a hydraulic hiss. Janeway jumped forward, disrupter rifle ahead and stormed onto the bridge. The Neddiin captain and his crew turned towards her in surprise. Her appearance on the bridge had been truly unexpected. She pointed the rifle at them and fired for a little longer than necessary. The revulsion she harbored towards these people was so overpowering, she had to fight the urge to vaporize them.

The Neddiin crew crumpled to the floor. Quickly Janeway went to the helm and began to familiarize herself with the alien controls while Talshek dragged himself onto the bridge to join her. The vessel was already on course for the research facility in the Tumani cluster. Apparently the Neddiin had plans to attack it, no doubt wanting to take Voyager and use it for their own sinister purposes. She dreaded to think what they could do with some of Voyager's technology, especially the transporters, weapons systems, and the parts that had been modified with Borg technology. Although the Neddiin weapons had always been powerful, none of their vessels would have been a match for Voyager's weapons arsenal, but Voyager had been outnumbered. Even Voyager had been powerless against an attack force of more than a dozen Neddiin fighters, all hacking away on her shields.

"We're going to reach the research facility in fifteen minutes. Lets hope they won't fire at us!" Janeway commented wryly.

"I will speak to them," Talshek half groaned and staggered to a communications panel.

On the viewscreen a moon came into view. The assumed a wide orbit around it, and a starbase was revealed on its shadowed side. Secured by docking clamps to its port bow, majestic like a jewel in a crown, towered the embodiment of Kathryn Janeway's hopes: Voyager.


	5. Solitary Among The Stars Chapter 5

Solitary Among The Stars 

By Carolyn Carey

Chapter 5 "Confutatis" 

They had docked at the starbase. Talshek was in bad condition and had immediately been taken to the infirmary. The resident Kalanar physician had been helpless. Kalanar medical science left a lot to be desired. In the end Talshek had been taken to Voyager's sickbay where the EMH, delighted to see his captain, took care of the Kalanar commissioner. With the help of Voyagers medical equipment, and the ingenuity of the Doctor, Talshek had been stabilized. However, the EMH did not hold much hope for his recovery. His injuries were too severe and had been left untreated for too long to repair the damage.

Kathryn Janeway was sitting at the desk in her ready room aboard Voyager. She had finally been granted access to her vessel. She would always remember the feeling of elation that coursed through her when she first set foot again on the NCC - 74656. After all, she had given up all hope of ever seeing her ship again.

Despite his condition, Talshek had managed to order his people to assist her in the recovery of her crew. The Kalanar were going to staff Voyager and set a course for the Laxys system. Once there, they were going to beam her crew aboard. No need to explain the situation to the overseer of the penal colony on Laxys III.

Kathryn Janeway sat gazing at the star field outside the viewport. Unfamiliar configurations greeted her, bringing with them the realization of just how far removed from Earth she still was. Would she ever see the blue planet again? But this was no time for gloomy thoughts. After all, she was looking forward to being reunited with her crew...

Her crew... what lives had they lived on Laxys III? Were they still alive? Well, she would find out soon enough. Voyager was to depart for its three-hour journey to the Laxys system in twenty minutes.

Voyager had been traveling towards Laxys III for two hours now. But things were not going as they were meant to.

"Captain Janeway, sensors have picked up a fleet of Neddiin warships on an intercept course."

Janeway turned to look at the Kalanar soldier who occupied the operations station on Voyager's bridge. What would she have given to have Harry Kim in his place now? To have Tom at the helm, Tuvok, her old Vulcan friend at Tactical, and Chakotay at her side? As it was, only unfamiliar faces surrounded her. How was she supposed to defeat an entire fleet of enemy warships with no one but enemies as her crew? She still regarded the Kalanar as adversaries. She did not trust them. Trust was something that needed to be earned, and so far the Kalanar had done very, very little to earn it. These people had been very reluctant to assist her, even when the Commissioner had ordered them to. If he were to die, what would happen to her? She could only hope to get her crew back before Talshek took his final breath. And for that matter, she was still uncertain as to what to make of the Commissioner's recent change of heart to let her and her crew go.

"How long until they reach us?"

"Approximately four minutes, Captain Janeway."

"Red Alert! Shields up. What's our weapons status?"

"All systems are working at one hundred percent efficiency."

Good. That was at least something.

"Are we in proximity of any nebulae or anything else that would give as a tactical advantage?"

"No."

_Oh well, can't win them all..._

"In that case we have no other option but to engage them. Battlestations everyone!"

The battle was a quick one. Voyager was knocked about by the disruptor fire of seven Neddiin warships, but eventually got the upper hand. Two of the warships were destroyed, the remaining five disabled. Voyager got away with her shields down to six percent, several hull breaches and power failures all over the ship. Life support had briefly gone offline, but backup systems had kicked in. Warp and impulse were under repair. With a bit of luck they would resume their course to Laxys III within the hour.

Janeway toured her ship, watching as a group of alien engineers attempted to repair her vessel. She wished she had B'Elanna or at least Carey... The Kalanar were not familiar with Voyager's systems, and she feared they were doing more damage than good.

She had just entered engineering when all the lights went off. A console exploded somewhere near the warp core. It seemed that her fears were justified. A Kalanar engineer must have caused a systems overload in an attempt to fix something. Her combadge chirped.

"Doctor to the Captain! How am I supposed to work like this?"

"We're experiencing a power failure, Doctor. I'm sure everything will be under control if you just hold on for a few minutes. I'm in engineering now."

"You'd better get that power online quickly! Commissioner Talshek's condition is turning critical. He won't survive without life support..."

She had not thought about that.

"We'll do what we can, Doctor! I'll get back to you. Janeway out!"

She was filthy, covered in black oil stains. At last she had managed to get main power back online. She needed a shower and a change of clothes, but first she would contact sickbay to check how things were going there.

"Janeway to the Doctor! How's he doing?"

The Doctor sounded somber.

"Captain, I think you'd better get here quickly! He wishes to speak to you. I don't think he'll make it much longer. Please, hurry!"

Something in her froze. The man had kidnapped her and her crew, impounded her vessel, enslaved her people. But somehow he did not seem so bad anymore. She had begun to understand his desperation to defend his homeworld from the malevolent and cannibalistic Neddiin. Even if she did not approve the means by which he was trying to achieve his goal, she understood. He had looked after her when she was sick, had provided medical care, food and shelter for what must have been, in his eyes, a mere slave. This man was not entirely loathsome. And he had said he was sorry for what he had done to her and her crew. Could she hate a man who was repentant and dying? No. She knew herself better than that.

Sickbay was dimly lit. The doctor had ordered a low illumination to make his patient feel more comfortable. As soon as she entered sickbay the EMH turned his attention away from the dying man and stepped towards her.

"Captain, he wishes to speak to you alone. Be quick. He hasn't got much time left. I'll be in my office if you need me."

She simply nodded and felt her throat constrict.

As she stepped closer to the bio-bed, she saw how shallow his breathing had become. His skin had turned ashen, and dark circles loomed under his eyes. Death had already a firm grip on him. The outcome was inevitable. Talshek was dying. Tears began to collect in the corners of her eyes, and she forced them back.

She closed the distance between herself and the man on the bio-bed and took his hand. It was ice cold. In response to her touch Talshek's eyes opened a little.

"Captain!"

His voice was barely audible, a mere whisper.

"Shhh, don't talk. Just rest."

"No... Captain, I don't have much time left. If I should die before you find your crew, you must keep my death a secret. My men will turn against you if they find out that I'm gone. Also, I need you to help me make my testament... The grounds... the estate, the slaves..."

"Stop talking like that Talshek. You'll be fine."

"No Kathryn, don't lie to me. I know that I'm dying. I can feel the life force slipping away from me. No matter how much I want to hold on to it, it's moving further and further away. Please..."

Kathryn swallowed hard, then took a padd and began to record Talshek's final words.

"All my slaves are to be set free on the day of my death, the land and house to be evenly distributed between them, as well as all my other belongings, except for this chain I've worn since the day of my birth. I want you to have it, Kathryn."

"Does it have a symbolic meaning of some kind?"

"Every male Kalanar of noble birth is given one of these at birth. He either leaves it to his family or friends when he dies, or he gives it to the woman he chooses to spend his life with. You may not have realized it, Kathryn Janeway, but I had chosen you for that position. My decision to take you into my service was just the beginning of my obsession with you. When you fell sick after our arrival on Kalanar Prime I thought I had lost you. The doctor wasn't sure you were going to make it. And it was all my fault... When you decided not to reciprocate my feelings, I decided to teach you a lesson. That's why I sent you to the fields. I watched you day and night for an entire week. I did neither sleep nor eat throughout that time. My obsession with you was making me sick. At night I would watch you bathe at the river. Later on I would sneak into the servant's quarters and watch you toss and turn in your sleep. Sometimes you would cry out in your sleep, and I would chastise myself, knowing that I was the cause of your nightmares. You are the most beautiful, strong and intelligent woman I have ever had the honor of knowing. My only regret is that I made you hate me, and that hurts me more than the pain of death. Now I shall leave this existence, knowing that the only woman I've ever loved feels nothing but revulsion and hatred for me..."

The tears that she had fought so hard to hold back were now flowing freely down her cheeks. She moved her hand to his face and softly caressed his cheek.

"Talshek, I don't hate you. I don't condone what you've done, but I don't hate you. I understand that you were trying to protect your people. That's why you abducted alien vessels, including Voyager. But you have demonstrated genuine regret for your actions. I only hope that you live to teach your people to change."

Talshek grasped her hand and kissed the palm. Tears were now also rolling down his cheeks.

"You are also the kindest woman I've ever met, Kathryn Janeway. Thank you for allowing a bad man to die in peace."

"Don't talk like that, Talshek. You're not bad. You looked after me when I was sick, and I got better. I intend to return that favor. You have to fight. You can make it."

"Kathryn, will you see to it that my last will is carried out according to my instructions?"

"Of course I will."

"You know, on Kalanar we say that when someone dies a star is born somewhere in the universe. That is how we live on... at least that's what the ancient scriptures say... I've never believed in those stories. I wish I could now..."

His face turned into an ugly grimace as a surge of pain went through him. His face seemed to turn a little grayer. The tiny flame that still flickered in his eyes almost vanished. His hand tightened around hers, and she gave it a comforting squeeze. Then all pain stopped, and the muscles in his face relaxed.

"Kathryn, the pain... it's gone."

Janeway's heart sank at the commissioner's last words. She knew only to well why the pain had stopped. His brain was beginning to shut down. He only had a few seconds to live.

"Am I granted a second chance? Should this not be my last hour after all? Please, Kathryn, help me up. I want to take a walk around the ship, let my people see that I'm better. Will you help me?"

"Of course, Talshek, but I believe you should rest for a few more hours. The sudden strain could worsen your condition. You don't want to exert yourself this soon. Why don't you get some sleep first?"

"You are a very wise woman, Kathryn Janeway. I do feel a little tired."

He closed his eyes. Kathryn remained at his side and watched on as the rise and fall of his chest became more and more imperceptible. Finally it stopped altogether. She took the chain from him and put it around her neck. Then she caressed his cheek for the last time and put a tender kiss where his tears had left a path.

"Doctor... he's gone."

With those words she exited sickbay.

The rescue mission was short and without complications. They reached the Laxys system minutes after Talshek's death. The lifesigns of the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager were easily identified on the ship's sensors. Quickly they were beamed aboard. The mission took place at night, so they would not be missed until the next morning.

Some crewmembers were in bad shape, undernourished, exhausted and injured or sick. But they were all alive. That was the most important thing. Naomi and her mother had fared best on Laxys III, since they had not been forced to work in the mines.

Chakotay and the senior officers were extremely weak, but otherwise unharmed. They had been sent to their quarters with strict instructions to rest and a dietary plan to boost their depleted neutrino levels.

After the rescue mission the ship had laid in a course for Kalanar Prime in order to drop off the Kalanar crew and deliver the body of the Commissioner to his people. Kathryn Janeway attended his funeral. He was buried on a beautiful hill on his grounds. Kathryn personally saw to it that Talshek's last will was carried out. The slaves were set free and the land and house were evenly distributed among them. She was invited to a farewell party on the night following Talshek's funeral, but she refused. She wanted to leave Kalanar space as soon as possible.

With her crew still confined to quarters by doctor's orders, she took the helm herself and laid in a course for the Alpha quadrant. Eventually she withdrew to her ready room, leaving the ship on autopilot.

"Computer, initialize musical selection "Requiem aeternam" from Giuseppe Verdi's "Messa di Requiem".

She could not stop thinking about him. Somehow Talshek had touched her. He had loved her all along, and yet she had hated him until it was too late to make any difference. His love for her had caused him to reconsider his actions, and he would probably have changed the future of his people, if he had not died. Of course, his slaves had been given their freedom, but what could freedom mean in a world were the stronger ones simply forced the weak into submission? How long would those slaves really remain free? How long until someone saw the opportunity to overpower them, making Talshek's beautiful estate and grounds their own? How long until some other tyrant came along and took their freedom from them again?

She had difficulty thinking of Talshek as a tyrant now. She had seen another side entirely of him. A gentle and kind man who regretted the mistakes he had made in the past. A man who could love a woman he barely knew, a mere slave to him, so much that he would change his errant ways.

She played with the chain, running it through her fingers. The gold glittered in the light of her ready room. At the end of it hung a medallion with the insignia of Talshek's house. It was a diamond shaped object with a humming bird in its center, and softly rolling hills in the background. Kathryn recalled seeing the beauty of Talshek's grounds for the first time, that day she got out of bed for the first time and looked out of the window...

The door chime sounded.

"Enter."

It was Chakotay. He still appeared only a shadow of his former self. He had lost a lot of weight. His high cheekbones were even more pronounced than usual.

"Kathryn, I thought I might just check on you. Are you all right? You haven't rested for a minute since we got back. You never told me what happened to you after the Commissioner took you away from us. I thought maybe you'd like to talk about it?"

She looked at him, smiled a little ruefully and shook her head.

"Maybe another time, Chakotay. I'm tired and it's a long story."

Her first officer sighed in resignation. He was not going to get her to talk about it tonight, but he would keep on trying until she told him all that had happened.

"Why don't you get some rest and I take over for you?" he suggested.

"I believe the doctor ordered you to get some rest..."

"Well, I thought I'd follow my Captain's example and ignore his recommendations." he jested.

She actually smiled a little.

"Captain to the bridge. Sensors have discovered a stellar phenomenon of scientific interest two hundred kilometers of the port-bow.", the voice of Voyager's computer announced.


	6. Solitary Among The Stars Epilogue

Solitary Among The Stars 

_By Carolyn Carey_

Epilogue "Liber Scriptus" 

They stepped onto the bridge and stared in awe at the images on the viewscreen. Seemingly out of nothing a gas cloud had formed, harboring all the colors of the rainbow, and more. The swirls of gas were moving in a frantic dance, faster and faster.

Both officers were too awestruck to give any instruction's to Voyager's computer. They simply stood and watched.

The cloud began to glow, then ignited. The blinding white light of the immense explosion that followed blanked the screen, a safety device that prevented Starfleet crews from any optical damage due to sudden changes in the intensity of light.

Kathryn found her tongue first.

"Computer, what was that?"

"Insufficient data to answer that question."

Suddenly the viewscreen came back to life. The colorful swirls of gas that had been there only seconds ago had vanished. A bright star was now in their place. But that could not be. It had not been there before, and it took a little more to create a star then a few swirls of exploding gas...

"Computer, analysis!" Janeway managed to order in a hoarse voice.

"A white dwarf star has appeared directly ahead. Distance from Voyager: two thousand kilometers."

Goosebumps rose on her skin as she recalled the Kalanar commissioner's final words...

_"You know, on Kalanar we say that when someone dies a star is born somewhere in the universe. That is how we live on... at least that's what the ancient scriptures say... I've never believed in those stories. I wish I could now..."_

"Your ancient scriptures were right... Goodbye, Talshek," Janeway muttered.

"Kathryn?"

She turned to look at him.

"It's a long story, Chakotay, but I need to get it off my chest. Join me for coffee?"

Chakotay smiled. He had not expected to succeed this easily.

The daily captain's log recorded that Voyager was back on course for the Alpha Quadrant, cruising at a leisurely speed of warp 6.5. Among other things the log briefly mentioned the birth of a new star seemingly out of nothing. From now on it would be referred to as "Talshek Prime". No explanation for the phenomenon was given.

THE END


End file.
